transfering property from joint names to one name

alanhunt1

My wife and I own a rental flat in joint names 50/50. there is no mortgage.
We have been advised to transfer it so one of us owns 100%, for tax reasons.
We have had a quote from a solicitor that does seem a little steep for such a simple transfer so my question is is this something we can easily do ourselves with the relevent land registry forms?
I'm assuming we need form TR1 but is there anything else?

booksurr

there is a guide on the land registry website on how to do this

you will need the TR1 plus you will also need to do the ID forms - they will however have to be certified by a solicitor as proof of your identity. That will however be cheaper than paying the solicitor to do the whole conveyance.

BTW are you sure it will be more tax efficient????
Have either (or both while married) of you ever lived in the property as their main residence? A transfer to a person with no such history will increase your CGT exposure so may be counter productive long term.

Have you considered tenants in common with say 1/99 ownership rather than joint tenancy?.

eddddy

As it's a flat, presumably it's leasehold.

You need to check your lease. You may need the freeholder's consent to assign, transfer a share in the mgmt co, deed of covenant and/or notice of assignment.

You can read about this kind of stuff here: http://freeconveyancingadvice.co.uk/sale-purchase/buying-property
... and scroll down to this section 'Assignment requirements (House or Flat)'

SmlSave

You need an AP1, TR1, ID forms for each on you and you also need to check if the amount in the house will attract stamp duty.

If there's a mortgage you need your lenders agreement and you do need to check with the freeholder too.

Solicitors charge practically the same for a transfer as a purchase

Land_Registry

Largely covered by others already but here's the link to the registration guidance alone, although you may have seen that already as you refer to the Transfer form TR1

G_M

Regarding ID, rather than pay a solicitor to certify, if you are near a Land registry office you can do it there in person.

See the ID section on their website.

alanhunt1

Thanks
the property is share of freehold. Now its been mentioned, our tax advisor did say something about a 'trust' and splitting it 1/99 but we did not obviously grasp the reasoning behind this( it was a rather rushed phone call that my wife made to the accountant- who was too busy at the time for a fomal meeting- along with lots of scribbled notes!)
Our main aim is to avoid income tax on the rental income as my wife is currently in the 40% tax bracket and I pay no tax. on my half.
neither of us have lived in the property so am I to assume that if it was sold then we could both use our CGT allowance even if it is split 99/1?
thanks again for help